Turning device for flat sided rivets



May 31, 1932.

F. LITTELL ET AL ['URNING DEVICE FOR FLAT SIDED RIVETS Filed March 20,1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 31, 1932.

F. M. LITTELL ET AL 1,861,186 TURNING DEVICE FOR FLAT SIDED RIVETS FiledMarch 20, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet IIIIHIIIIIMIIIElllllllllllllllfl PatentedMay 31 1932 f'n rsa stares PATENT rica FREDERICK in. L em. Am) EDGAR R.MILLEROF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS r0 r. .I. LITTELL MACHINE co, or,CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A conronerro'n OEILLINOIS runn'me nnvrcn son FLATSIDED Ia-Ivnrs Application med m 20.

' in properrelation-tothe operating parts of the press. Generally thehopper mechanism is designed to accommodate'a considerable.

number of rivet members,enough to constitute a supply for the rivetmachine'to last for a considerable length of time. Also, since it isnecessary in dealing with rivet members of non-circularcontour topresent the rivets tothe working part of the maclnne with their'flatside in substantial alignment, the hopper-s have been constructed to notonly feed the rivets to the chute individually but to'alsoalignthe'rivets so as to locate their fiat side' in a particular direction,in which position the rivet is then ejected into the chute and thuspresented to the riveting press; 1 :3 i i 1 I i I One of the objects ofthe present invention is to obviate the necessity ct -employing a typeofhopperhaving the complicated mech-' anism necessary to align thenon-circular rivets beiore presentlng'them to the chute and accordinglythe present invention contemplates an' improved rotary turnlng de vicewhereby the rivets are turned during their travel towards therivetlngpress so as to al gn the r vets with their flat P01431011 facing in thesame direction.

'A' further objctof the present invention is to ,providefanovel formof-rotaryturning device which will be adapted for turning non-circularmembers during their travel along a chute and Which'will also embodymeans for preventingjamming of the members. f Q H Aiurther object istoprovide a rotary turningdevice whichwill'be capable of aligningnon-circular members sothattheir flat portion will be facing in the samedirection at 1930. SeriaI No. 437,412.

aspeed greater than has heretofore been possible, so that thecapacity'of the rivet press will be correspondingly increased.

A'yet further object is to provide a rotary turning device which will besimple in construction'and eflicient and positivein opera-- tion.

With these and various other objects in view, the invention may consistof certain novel features of construction and operation as Wlll be morefully described and partlcularly pointed out in the specification,drawings and claims appended hereto.

In the drawings, whichillustrate anembodiinentof the device and whereinlikereference characters are used to designate like parts -Figure lis aplan view of a rotary turning device constructed in accordance with thepresent invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view Figure 3' is a sectional view takenalong line 3 3 of Figure 1. o a

Figure 4 is a sectional View taken along line 4+4 of Figure 3. Y s

' 'Figure5 is a modified form of drive mechanism for the rotaryelements. Figure 6 is an end elevation of the same. Figure 7 isanothermodified form of gear drive mechanism.

Figure Sis still another modified form of gear drive mechanism employingconnecting links. 7

Figure 9 is an end elevationalview thereof.

Referring to the drawings, it is noted that the present invention isadapted for associa tion with a hopper structure comprising a rotatingbase 10 provided with upstanding flange 11,,wl1ich provides a receptaclefor'receiving the supply of rivet members. The hopper is also providedwith a flange 12to which the base 13 is adapted to be secured by meansof bolts 14. The base 13 takes the general contour as shown in Figure 1andis adapted to have a pluralityot diagonally defleeting members 15secured thereto for defleeting dust and loose particles away from themechanism of the turning device. Also the rivets may jam in the hopperat the mouth of the chute in which case they are ejected thereof.

past the spring finger 16 and so are deflected by member to a receptaclelocated in position to receive them.

Also secured to the base 13 is a chute designated in its entirety by 17which comprises a plate 18 having secured in parallel relation sideflanges 19, held in place by screws 20, which flanges have an undercutshoulder 21 providing a channel or guideway for the passage of the rivetmember designated X. At the lower end of the base 13 the chute 17 iscontinued and serves to deposit the work pieces, after they hai e passedthrough the turning mechanism, to the working toolof the riveting press.

The-turning mechanism comprises a plunudity of rotating wheels, one aleft hand wheel 22 and the other a right hand wheel 23,;b0th wheelshaving aknurled periphery and-adaptedto rotate in a clockwise directionsis-shown by the respective arrows in Figure 1. The wheel 22 is looselymounted on the shaft 24 andis adapted to have located on either Sidethereof, a fiber washer 25 also loosely mounted on, the shaft, and ametal washer 26 keyedto the shaft and located over the fiber washer, Theupper fiber and metal washer are resilientlypressed by a spring 27,located anthe shaft 24, which spring is held in place by lack nuts 28.On the other end of the shaiftfl i-a pinion 30 is keyed and held inplace by securing nut 31. I

,Referring to the knurled wheel 23, it to bemotedthat this wheel is somounted as to have a rotary movementand in addition a meiprocatingmovement in a direction at right angles to the chute or guideway 17. Forthis purpose the wheel is directlykeyed tmahflft 32 and held in place onthe shaft by lock nut 33. On the other end of the shaft a pinion34' iskeyed and held in place by lock nut 35 in a manner similar to the pinion3O Qngshafti24. The shaft 32 is journaled within a block 36, which ismounted in the base 13 in a manner allowing reciprocatingmove ineptbymeans of longitudinally extending kolvsa'll. The block 36 is providedwith a plura ity of seats 38 for the reception of springs 40, whichsprings are backed by means of a backing plate 41 secured to the base 13by means of bolts 42. A positioning screw 43 serves to accuratelyposition the block 36 within the base so that the desired space can besecured between the stationarily mounted I wheel 22 and the wheel 23. Byreason ofthe springs it is clearly seen that the block 36 andythe wheel23 mountedthercin are spring pressed in a direction at rightangles'tothe chute 17 and are adapted to be forced away from the guide 17 duringtheturning operations imparted to the work piece or rivet designated X.

For rotating the wheels 22 and 23 intheir respective directions :thebase 13 is provided with a bearing 45, within which is journaled a driveshaft 46 having mounted on its outer end a pulley 47 adapted to bedriven by means of a belt 48. On the inner end of the drive shaft abevel gear 50 is keyed or otherwise secured, which gear has meshingengagement with asimilar bevel gear 51 mounted on the vertical shaft 52depending from the base 13. Integral with the gear 51 is a pinion 53having meshing engagement with the pinion 30 ke'yed tosha'ft mgengagement with the pinion 34, on shaft 3.2. Inoperation of the devicethe drive shaft 46 1isd-riven through means of the belt 48 directlyfromthe operating parts of the riveting' press. The rotations thus impartedto the drive-shaft areftransmitted by means of the various pinionsdescribed, to the "ertical shafts24 and 32 respectively, and thus to theleft hand wheel ,22 and to the right hand wheel23.

' As therivet members leave the hopper 10 and slide down the guideway17, they engage the knurled edges of the rotatin wheels 22 and, 23 onlywhen they have their at sides facing in'the, wrong direction. The wheelrotatessothat the rivet is rotated in a counter clockwise direction andthis rotation will continue until its flat side will face the wheel 23.In this positionthe rivet is able to pass the Wheels and so continue itstravel along the guideway 17. The space between the wheels 22 and 23 canbe adjusted so as to accommodate variations in the size of the rivet orvariations in the amount of metal that was cutoff to form their fiatside previous to leading them in the receptacle. This adjustment is madeby the screw 43 which positions the block 36 in the base 13. It is to benoted here that, as the rivet is turned so-as to locate its flat sidefacing towards the right, that the wheel 23 being spring pressed in adirection at right angles to the guideway at 17 will yield to a slightextent to accommodate the enlarged diameter of the rivet. However therivet will not be able to pass the wheels except'when its flat side hasbeen positioned towardsthe right.

I Another featureof the present invention is the friction drive employedto impart the rotary movements to the wheel 22. By reason of the fiberwashers 25 engaging the wheel and the metal washers 26, which are keyedto the shaft, the'wheel is only frictionally driven and may have acertain amount of slippage on shaft 24. This is necessary as sometimes'during .the operation of the device the rivets become jammed duringtheir rotation. This amounts to a safety feature and I rivets fromlodging against the right side of the chute and thus jamming or cloggingsame. The blade is flexible so that it follows the wheel 23 in itsreciprocations away from the chute and is thus in contact with the Wheelat all timeswhen the same is in its left hand position.

In Figure 5 a modified form of drive for the wheel 22 and 23 isemployed. The pinions are omitted and in their place the shafts 24 and32 have keyed to them pulleys and 134 respectively. Also theintermediate pinion 54 is omitted and is replaced by an idler pulley154. The pulleys employ an endless belt which operatively connects thevarious pulleys with each other. Power is applied to the sh aft 24 inany convenient manner such as by means of a bevel gear and a pinion asdisclosed in the modification of Figure 1, which gears are adapted to bedriven from drive shaft 46. It is noted that the endless belt 160 willimpart clockwise rotation to both wheels in much the same manner as wassecured by reason of the series of intermediatepinions previouslydescribed.

In Figures 7 to 9 inclusively still another modified form of connectingmechanism for the rotary wheels is disclosed wherein the pinions 30 and34 secured to the shaft 24 and 32 respectively are retained. However,the intermediate pinions are replaced by single gear wheel 254 which isadapted to have meshing engagement with both the pinions 30 and 34. Thisconstruction is sometimes desirable as it makes for a simplified deviceallowing the omission of several pinions and their journaling studs.

It was explained in the operation of the device that as the rivets arerotated the wheel 23 is given a slight movement away from the guideway17 by reason of the enlarged diameter of the rivet. This movement of.

the wheel 23 towards and away from the guideway serves to bring out ofmeshing engagement the pinion 34 and the large gear wheel 254, which toa certain extent will in time damage the teeth on the various wheels. Torelieve this objection to the use of a single large gear wheel, thedrive mech anism in Fig ure 8 is provided with a plurality of connectinglinks, the links 17 0 connecting the pinion 30 with the large gearwheel, while the link 171 serves to connect the gear wheel to the otherpinion 34. The shaft'24 is of course mounted stationarily in the base 13and as the shaft 32 is given reciprocating movements, the pinions andthe gear wheel are held in meshing engagement by reason of theconnecting links. The, ournaling of the gear wheel 254 is accomplishedby, employ ing a stud 172 with which the-various links.

are operatively associated. j i It is to be understoodthat we do notwish to be limited by the exact embodiment of the device shown, which ismerely by way of illustration and not limitation, as various and otherforms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in theart without departing from the spirit of the invention or z the scope ofthe claims.

We claim:

i '1. In an article positioning mechanismof the class described, thecombination with means for directing articles in definite path,

of rotatable wheels positioned on respective sides of said path, one ofsaidwheels being frlctionally driven, said wheels. being so.

spaced as to prevent passage of an articleex cept when aligned in aparticular direction.

2. In an article positioning mechanism. of

the. class described, the combination with means for directing articlesin a definite path, of knurled wheels positioned on both sides of thepath, means for mounting said wheels, one of said meansbeing stationaryin relation to the path, the other of said means being adapted forreciprocating. movements towards and away from the path, and pinionssecured to said mounting means, and a drive shaft for imparting rotarymovement to said pinions.

3. In an artlcle positioningmechanismof the class described, thecombination with means for directing articles in a definite path, ofrotatable wheels positioned on respective sides of said path, saidwheels having a roughened periphery and so spaced as to prevent passageof an article except when aligned in a particular direction, one of saidwheels being frictionally driven, and the other being positively driven.

4. In a turning device for flat-sided rivets, the combination with meansfor directing rivets in a definite path, rotatable wheels pe I sit ionedon both sides of said path, said wheels being so positioned as to formsrestricted passageway in said path, one of said wheels beingstationarily mounted, and the other wheel being mounted for movementtowards and away fromthe path.

5. In a turning device for flat-sided rivets, the combination with meansfor directing rivets in a definite path, a base secured 6 said means,shafts rotatably mounted in said i base and positioned on opposite sidesof said path, a knurled wheel frictionally secured to one shaft, and asecond knurled wheel keved to the other shaft. I v I 6. In a turningdevice for flat-sided rivets,

the combination with a chute for directing rivets in a definite path, abase secured to said chute, a shaft rotatably mounted in said base onone side of the chute, a slot formed 1n sald base on the other side ofthe chute,a El

block slidably mounted in said slot, a second shaft rotatably mounted insaid block, and resilient means forcing said block towards the firstmentioned shaft.

6 7 In a turning device for flat-sided rivets,

the combination with a chute for directing rivets in a definite path, abase secured to said chute, a shaft rotatably mounted in said base onone side of the chute, a slot formed in said base on the otherside ofthe chute,

a block slidably mountedin said slot, a second shaft rotatabl mounted insaid block, a knurled wheel frictionally secured to said first mentionedshaft, a second knurled wheel keyed t0 the last mentioned shaft, andresihent means forcing said block towards the first mentioned shaft toform a restricted pas sageway in the chute.

8. In an article positioning mechanism of the class described, thecombination with means for directing articles in a definite path, ofwheels positioned on both sides of the path, means for mounting saidWheels, one of said means being stationary in relation to the path,

the other of said means having movement toward and away from the path,and a resilient strip forming a portion of one wall of the path belowthe wheels, the free end of the strip resiliently engaging the peripheryof the movably mounted wheel to prevent cloggin of the articles.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 18th day of March, 1930.

FREDERICK M. LITTELL. EDGAR R. MILLER.

